The Scars that Remain
by MysteriousGirl92
Summary: The Pharaoh finds himself in a nightmare where his torment over a perilous decision continues. Will he forever remain in the darkness or step into the light? Warning: this very short story may contain OOC scenes. Feel free to rate and review. :)
1. Consumed by Darkness

Yami, known by many as 'the Pharaoh', found himself wandering in the Stone Wilderness, a place where the spirits roam with their spine-shattering voices polluting the air. The surrounding area perfectly reflected his current persona: empty and haunted. His iron will to face the boy he betrayed prevented him from backing out, even when he was accompanied by balls of light attempting to steer him away from his destination.

The spherical lights represented not the gentle spirits that tried to protect him from danger, but the malevolent spirits that acquired an undying thirst for revenge; many who faced the Pharaoh and suffered the bitter taste of defeat. As soon as Yami entered the circle, a collection of lights collaborated to form the body of a young boy.

A young boy with a similar hairstyle to the Pharaoh's own; a young boy who was considered a friend and a partner to him, even after his soul was taken away. The young boy, known as Yugi Muto, opened his eyes to see the one who betrayed him, wanting to know if it was really the Pharaoh.

The darker half called out his partner's name, relieved to know that Yugi was alright. However, the Pharaoh's touch was like an apparition passing through a human body. He then turned to see the back of his partner. Confusion reigned in Yami's mind. How could this be? Yugi, wearing a frown, turned his head to face his darker half staring at him in bewilderment.

"You came all this way just to see me?" Yugi asked.

"Of course," the Pharaoh replied with a sombre tone. "I wanted to say how sorry I am."

"Sorry?" Yugi responded, turning his head away from his other self. "What do you have to be sorry about, Pharaoh? What could you have possibly done to hurt me?"

Words failed the Pharaoh upon hearing Yugi's words. He was sure that Yugi was confused over the fact that he had to apologise. "Yugi… I…"

Yugi's posture remained the same. "Go on, tell me what you did to cause me so much pain." Yugi exclaimed with a hint of sarcasm.

"Yugi, I played the Seal of Orichalcos in order to win the duel against Raphael, remember?"

"Yeah, I do." Yugi answered, hurt by the thought of his darker half's betrayal. "Clear as day." Yami swallowed hard, trying to dislodge the lump in his throat, before he opened his mouth to speak again.

"As do I. Yugi, I am so sorry for what I had done that day. No words can truly express how deeply I regret my reckless decision. No words can excuse my thoughtless, unspeakable, despicable actions, no matter the reason was for wanting so desperately to win."

The baritone voice cracked under the pressure of having to face up to its owner's misdeeds and lack of judgment.

"I have not forgiven myself and I doubt I ever will for what I did to you and my monsters. Including my friends. As much as I wish not to lose my friends and their trust, I deserve to… for my greatest mistake. I will do what I must to make it up to you if you would give me the chance to, but I would understand if you choose not to."

Yugi had not been mentally prepared for this moment. Having someone apologise for their mistakes was one thing, but forgiving the very person who ignored and betrayed you was a completely different story. He knew he had to tell the Pharaoh how he truly felt about what happened that day, regardless of how much it may hurt.

Wearing the same frown as before, he turned his head to face the young King, whose eyes were dulled from the look of grief and remorse.

"Yami… I appreciate you coming all this way to see me so you could apologise, but I… I'm afraid I can't accept your apology." Yugi then turned around, body and all, to look into Yami's eyes; his face, however, still unchanged. "It simply isn't enough."

"I know." Yami replied, his tone and voice unchanged.

"What you did back there in that duel is not just something you can sweep under the rug, Yami. Yes, you're sorry for what you did, but 'sorry' doesn't cover what you did. You let this happen. You chose to let this happen, no matter the cost. And at that moment, you let your true instincts go to waste."

Wearing the same stern expression, the boy immediately left his alter ego's side shortly before stopping in his tracks and turning to face him again. "It was already too late by the time you realised just how badly you screwed up before we were separated by the Seal's power."

Yugi's blood began to boil at the memory of his partner's reckless, foolish decision. It wouldn't be long before the unsympathetic tone in his voice immediately changed into one of bitter anger. "And you know what the worst part is? You _knew_ how evil and dangerous that card was and you still played it! You knew what it could do to you and your monsters and you still played it! You knew it could take your soul after losing the duel, as long as it's on the field, _and you still played it_!"

"I know." Yami replied, his tone and voice still unchanged.

Yugi, however, wasn't finished yet, for the desire to further discuss the tragic, devastating events of this particular duel was growing stronger than ever. "And now, you have the nerve to tell me that you 'made a mistake'. A mistake is when you accidentally spill a can of soda on the floor. A mistake is when you shove a ton of food down your throat, only for it to suddenly come back up again. How can you say that what you did in that duel was a mistake? How _dare_ you say that what you did was a mistake!"

The tone in the young boy's voice was filled with contempt, resentment and ruthlessness. The Pharaoh, hearing those words, felt a sharp pain in his chest and a tight squeeze in his throat, yet he didn't dare to display any signs of emotional weakness.

"Yugi…" he managed to say.

"We _all_ make mistakes, Yami… but this, THIS, was NOT of them!" Yugi yelled, before his voice changed to a venomous tone. "Raphael may have goaded you into playing that card, but YOU made the decision to play it. You wanted to play it. You NEEDED to play it. You chose to ignore my warnings not to, and you let your dark side break free from the chains that bound it. The power of the Orichalcos seduced you, Pharaoh, and you simply gave into it. You accepted it. You embraced it. And you loved every second of it."

Yugi couldn't help but smile a little over those last few sentences. The urge to laugh at the Pharaoh's crumbling 'tough guy' persona was strong, but not strong enough for the innocent angel to go through with it.

"N-no…" Yami mumbled, now showing signs of emotional distress.

Yugi's mask of innocence shattered into pieces, revealing a face wearing a malevolent smile before he continued to chastise his darker half.

"And when everything you worked so hard to achieve, every sacrifice you made to achieve victory, came crashing down on you, you regretted it. No… you _feared_ it. You begged forgiveness from your monsters, but you weren't really sorry at that time. You were _scared_." His face and tone became serious again. "The only time you were _truly_ sorry was when… I stepped in."

The young boy's words knocked Yami for six. "Yugi, I…"

"Never meant for this to happen?" Yugi interrupted. "Never meant for me to step in to save you? I know you didn't mean for it to happen, Yami, but it _did_ happen. And if it weren't for you, you wouldn't have been as broken, alone and miserable as you are now. You were so full of confidence, possessed such wisdom, such knowledge and great potential. Yet… you threw it all away just for the sake of winning a simple duel."

He felt his anger rising again. "A simple duel that required you _to foolishly put your soul on the line_. I _told_ you time and time again that that card was _evil_. Yet you chose to betray me, betray the Heart of the Cards, betray your monsters… betray the very people who looked up to you and trusted you."

Yugi felt his rage dissipating a little, changing his tone to one filled with doubt. "Speaking of which, I wasn't sure if I could do that until you promised never to go against my wishes again. But on that tragic day, you did." Rage burned once again from deep within his soul.

"Just because some guy showed up out of nowhere declaring how evil you are and forced you to play that card to, ironically, prove that you weren't evil. But then you became the very thing I never thought you'd become: a monster. A tyrant who cared _nothing_ about the safety of _anyone_ , as long as you had power!

"You corrupted your monsters, abused them, treated them like they were _nothing_ and you sacrificed each and every one of them in a selfish attempt to win!" Yugi roared. "You even tried to corrupt Timaeus with the same power and he left you alone, left you to fend for yourself!"

Yugi chuckled at the sheer thought, before turning bitter again. "It's a good thing he did. I'd like to think that he would rather be trapped in the Crystal Seal than to be released by an evil power source.

"Can you imagine a corrupted Timaeus on the field? I'd rather not, because if he was corrupted, I doubt that we would ever look at him the same way again. Seeing that red, sinister glow in his eyes every time we looked into them. And to think, you were one of the Chosen Three to use his power for _good_ , NOT for _evil_! Now you tell me, Pharaoh. How can you _consider_ something like _that_ to be a mistake?"

Yami's eyes remained static, before shifting his forlorn violet orbs to the ground. "You're right." Yami admitted resignedly, gently shutting his eyes before opening them again. "I cannot call what I did a mistake. I had gone too far that day. I allowed my anger, my desperation, my desire to win to take over, and you paid the price."

"Yes, I did." Yugi hissed bitterly. "Because of you. It was all because of _you_! But if you had the lost the duel without the Seal in play, then… what was it you said? 'Two worlds would be destroyed'?"

"Yes, I _did_ say those words." Yami acknowledged. "The Seal took you away from me, and without your light to keep me pure, I'm becoming evil, Yugi. I'm beginning to believe that Raphael said about me is true. Perhaps I _was_ a wicked Pharaoh."

"Let me ask you something." Yugi responded. "If you _were_ a wicked Pharaoh like Raphael said, wouldn't that statement contradict everything Ishizu said about you being a _good_ Pharaoh? Or are you simply concluding that Ishizu was lying about your past?"

"Well…" the Pharaoh replied. "I just… don't know anymore. If I'm capable of such horrific behaviour, then it's _my_ soul that should be locked away."

"Well, you're right about one thing: your soul _should_ be locked away." Yugi replied with a hint of venom. "But what good is it now? I'm the one who's been locked away forever, not you. I was the one who stepped in to save you, all because you were unbelievably stupid enough to play that evil card, despite having no good or real reason to do so! 'Two worlds would be destroyed'. Well, it would have been the case if _your_ soul was taken away instead of _mine_!"

Suddenly… "Argh!" Yugi's hands tightly clutched his head in a split second, his knees struggling to support him. The Pharaoh's face was riddled with curiosity, confusion and concern. The sight of his partner suffering in agony, slight or excruciating, was tearing him apart.

"Yugi! Are you alright?" the Pharaoh called to the boy while slowly approaching him.

"I… I don't feel so… Argh!" Yugi's left hand quickly moved to his chest, clutching it with a vice's grip. The pain that seared in his head teleported straight to his heart. It was brutal for poor Yugi; it felt as if he was suffering a heart attack. The support his knees gave him was now gone.

"Yugi! YUGI!" The Pharaoh rushed to his lighter half's side, crouching towards him to turn him on his back. "Stay with me, Yugi!" he cried.

Yugi's face had fear written all over it. His eyes shifted all over the place as if frantically looking for any signs of life. "Pharaoh, it's so dark." Yugi cried, fearing for his life. "I can't see. Where are you? I'm scared!" The desperate attempt to make his eyes work was not enough to keep him from hyperventilating.

"Yugi, I'm right here." Yami confirmed, attempting to console him. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Yami, help me!" A pre-pubescent scream tore from Yugi's throat as the pain fiercely continued to burn inside him. "My head! My chest! It hurts!"

"It's OK, Yugi. You're going to be fine." Yami was stunned. Never in all his life had he ever felt so helpless… until now.

"Pharaoh, I don't want to go. Not like this. I'm so- ARRGGHH!" The pain located in Yugi's chest and head was too much for him to handle. So much so that he couldn't properly owe his darker half an apology. The young boy's eyes began to moisten and leak. The mission to fight back the tears was a miserable failure.

"I'm scared!" Yugi cried, tears shedding profusely. "I'm so scared. Please don't leave me. Don't leave me all alone." Yugi's reached out his hand towards Yami, who proceeded to do the same.

"I'm not going anywhere and that's a promise I intend to keep." Yami's hopeful tone was enough to crack a slight smile from his lighter half.

"Ya…mi…" Yugi's eyes failed to keep him awake as he slipped into the darkness; his youthful, gentle face no longer showing any signs of life. Yami's eyes widened at the sight. It was as if time had come to a stop and the colours from the world were sucked right out of it.

"Yugi, stay with me! Yugi!" Just then, a familiarly known symbol, on Yugi's forehead, revealed itself to Yami. "Oh no, this can't be happening! NO!" Yugi slowly opened his eyes to reveal a sinister, red glow in them. His face no longer possessed any form of expression.

"No! Yugi, please!" Yami cried, fearing the worst yet to come. "Don't let the Seal control you!" The Pharaoh's words failed to reach Yugi, who resulted in shoving him to the side before towering over him. The young boy's face was riddled with contempt and disappointment, startling his other self.

"Hear my words, Pharaoh." Yugi announced, with a hint of malice in his voice. "Yugi Muto is no more."

"Yugi, please. Think of the boy you truly are." Yami cried, hoping to reach out to him again.

"I am," the young boy replied, "and I am not Yugi. Not the Yugi you know anyway." His fists clenched. His teeth pushed each other in a struggle for dominance.

"The lazy leech, the worthless whelp, the poor excuse for a hero and a student. The naïve fool who would always get himself and others into trouble." Yami stared in disbelief. He couldn't believe his ears. Not _once_ did Yugi ever call himself _those_ kinds of words.

"Don't say that!" Yami whispered audibly.

"But it's true." Yugi replied, with the tone of brutal honesty. "I lost Exodia for good and I nearly lost my own life and endangered Joey and Tristan's lives because of my naïve foolishness. I would always rely on everyone else to do my work for me, just to make things easier for myself."

The tainted child then smiled to himself, his eyes cast onto the ground. "Heh, if I was any stronger, I would have given Kaiba a verbal lashing for what he put me through: forcing me to choose between saving Grandpa sooner and saving Grandpa later."

Yami could barely blink at the sight of his friend putting himself down such in a brutal, unforgiving manner.

"Do you remember that, Pharaoh?" Yugi enquired, looking his other self in the eyes again. "Kaiba then said that I was weak because I couldn't save my Grandpa _sooner_. Granted that sparing Kaiba was the right thing to do, he still had no right to say I was too weak to go through with hurting him. In reality, he was just jealous because I was strong enough not to go through with it."

The Pharaoh could barely have the strength to stand up. Yugi was never known to be this smug, conceited and arrogant. Could this be the Seal's doing?

"And here I was, wallowing in self-pity, choking on my own tears. Instead of being everything I wanted to be, everything I was supposed to be. I should have been the one scold to him, not my friends."

Hearing those words was too much for the Pharaoh to bear. "Yugi, listen to yourself." Yami pleaded, taking several steps back.

"Oh, I am." Yami's lighter half replied. "And it's all true. The weakling I once was would always get stepped on, pushed around and taken advantage of. Well, not anymore. I don't need anyone's help, and I certainly don't need _yours_."

Suddenly, the Seal of Orichalcos formed around the Pharaoh. At that moment, he knew this could only mean one thing…

"Yugi, please!" Yami begged as the Seal lit up. "Yugi, stop!"

"Adios… Your Highness." Yugi responded nonchalantly, wearing a malevolent smile. "Or is it Your Majesty?"

It was already too late by then. _Nothing_ could stop the Seal from taking the Pharaoh's soul now.

"No! Yugi! NOOOO!"

And from that point, the world faded to black.


	2. Stepping into the Light

The black sea of darkness was the only thing visible to the Pharaoh. The sound of silence remained in the shadows until…

"Pharaoh? Pharaoh, wake up!" A voice rang out from a distance. No response was given to its owner. "Pharaoh! PHARAOH!" Still nothing.

"Yami." Yami slowly opened his eyes to witness the blurred face of the same boy who berated him in his sleep. The vision soon became clear. That same boy, Yugi Muto, wore the face of worry and concern, shortly before relief and joy took over.

"I'm so glad you're alright." Yugi sighed. "You scared me." The boy moved himself away from his other self, giving him enough space to move his legs to the side of the bed. Yugi seated himself on the edge of the bed as the Pharaoh turned his gaze to look into the boy's eyes.

"Yugi, what are you doing here?" the Pharaoh enquired.

"I heard noises coming from inside the Millennium Puzzle, so I went inside to check it out." Yugi replied, remembering his journey to the Puzzle's insides. "Then I learned that the noises were coming from the behind the door of your soul room."

As Yugi, in flashback, entered the Pharaoh's soul room, the place literally became a maze filled with multiple doors and possibly hundreds of stairs each facing every direction you could think of. "Knowing how the Puzzle works, since there was always a maze behind the door; it took me a while to get to you. The noises made it easier for me to come and find you."

Eventually, one of the doors, in the depths of the Puzzle, caught the young boy's eye and he opened it to take a look inside. "And when I did, I saw you tossing and turning in your sleep." Yugi said, remembering the gut-wrenching shock he witnessed. "You were mumbling to yourself."

In the present day, inside the Puzzle, Yami knitted his brow in need of answers. "What noises did you hear along the way, Yugi?"

Yugi took a deep breath and exhaled. "Well, you were rambling on about how sorry you were for your… greatest mistake. You claimed that you'd never forgive yourself for what you did and you vowed to do anything to make it up to me. You even said that you'd understand if I didn't want to give you the chance to."

His innocent eyes slowly waltzed on the ground before gazing into Yami's violet orbs. "Pharaoh, I know that what you did feels like the worst thing you've ever done, from your perspective, but you don't have to keep punishing yourself over it."

Yami frowned a little more, unable to process what Yugi just said to him. "You can't change what has already happened. And what you did, Pharaoh, already happened. You played the Seal and lost the duel, but you overcame the darkness in your heart and travelled all the way to Dartz's lair to rescue me."

A smile graced the young boy's lips. His hand reached out towards Yami, gently squeezing the former King's hand as a gesture of comfort. "You have done more than enough to make it up to me, and of course I would have given you the chance if you had asked me to. I said it once and I'll say it again: you acted like a true hero. And even heroes make mistakes, just like everyone else."

The innocent one conjured a cute yet slightly larger smile. The darker half, however, was not so easily convinced to do the same. A thought entered his mind; he needed to know if Yugi was being honest about one thing.

"Would you consider my actions in my first duel with Raphael a mistake, Yugi? Because it doesn't really feel like it." A heavy sigh passed the Pharaoh's lips. "Not anymore, at least."

Yugi's smile slowly fell. "Why would you say that?" he asked, curious to know why Yami was still berating himself.

"I dreamt about seeing you again in the Stone Wilderness." Yami replied. "The dream didn't go the same way as the real event did." Yami swallowed with great force before opening his mouth again. "You… gave me a long, well-deserved lecture about what I had done. You told me that what I did wasn't a mistake. You said I wanted to play the Seal of Orichalcos and I embraced its power, only to then fear it when the tables turned on me."

Shock and horror washed over the innocent child. He couldn't believe his ears. How could he have said something so damaging, so cruel, so vile to his other, more confident self? Tears threatened to surface, yet he wouldn't allow them to fall. He wiped them away using the sleeve of his pyjamas.

The Pharaoh wasn't finished yet. "You said I threw away my knowledge, wisdom and potential for the sake of winning a simple duel; that I was a tyrant for what I did to my monsters, as well as what I tried to do to Timaeus. You even… accused me of believing Ishizu's knowledge of my mysterious past to be false. You also said that the two worlds would have been destroyed if my soul had been taken away instead of yours."

Yugi took a soothing breath as he shut his eyes tightly. The information was quite difficult to process. But then again, who was he to turn down a challenge? It was now _his_ turn to say his piece.

"You know what I think, Yami?" Yugi began, with a serious yet gentle tone to his voice. "I think that the dream you had is the embodiment of your desire for torment over your mistake." Yami opened his mouth to speak, but Yugi stopped him from doing so.

"I don't care what you have to say about it not being a mistake. It was a mistake. End of." The Pharaoh cast his gaze to the ground, his head following suit. "You can't keep doing this to yourself, Pharaoh. People have forgiven you for this and so have I. So why can't you do the same? Don't you want to put it behind you?"

"I do, Yugi." Yugi's darker half sighed with his head down. "It's just not that simple. My wounds had opened up from the very moment I lost you. It's going to take some time for those wounds to heal. And at the end of the day, the wounds may have healed, but the scars are still there as a reminder of what I had done and lost."

Yugi quickly jumped from his seat. His face, desperate and pleading; his eyes narrowing down with a slight frown. "Stop it!" Yugi roared at the top of his lungs. "Just stop it, OK? I don't want to hear any more of this."

The Pharaoh shot up with lightning speed, his face contorted with anguish and frustration. "I heard what I didn't want to hear from you, Yugi!" he countered. "It was no good for me to wish that _my_ soul was locked away when _your_ soul was locked away."

The sound of a crack polluted the air in the room as the Pharaoh's face was struck with a swift blow. The pain on his left cheek was searing like the hottest flames of the Inferno. Fingers used their delicate touch to slightly soothe the pain. The Pharaoh's gaze widened as he came face to face with the boy.

The child was seething with fury as he glared dangerously at his other self. "Yugi…" the Pharaoh mumbled.

"Don't you _ever_ say that to me again, Pharaoh." Yugi scolded harshly, his finger pointing towards the former King.

"Do you have _any_ idea what you're doing to yourself right now? It's just like in that duel where we faced each other before I hypocritically played that evil card." The lighter half seethed once more with strong white teeth pushing against each other.

"Do you know how I felt when you said those depressing words to me that day?" he continued with the same tone of voice. "I felt sick. Physically sick." The Pharaoh's touch drifted away from the target that was struck. His eyes quickly fluttered like a butterfly preparing its wings to take flight.

He couldn't understand why Yugi felt this way in the Stone Wilderness when part of what he said was right. He was sure that what Yugi said about Yami having his soul locked away and caring about no one as long as he had power was right. Yugi _must_ have been at least a _bit_ angry with him at that time.

"I gave you what you wanted: a severe punishment for what you did." Yugi continued, his tone still unchanged. "But I only did it to pull you through, not to tear you down." So does that mean…? No, it couldn't be. He _has_ to have been angry at _some_ point.

The burning flames of rage, deep within Yugi's soul, extinguished as his innocent eyes formed the look of a lost puppy. "So please…" Yugi begged, his voice suddenly becoming worried and desperate. "Please don't tear yourself down. You were everything I ever wanted to be and you still are. You are wise, brave, strong, kind and selfless. No matter how hard life tries to bring you down, you would always get back up."

The Pharaoh sighed to himself, reluctantly believing Yugi's sincere words as the former King set his eyes on the ground. "Look at me, Pharaoh." Yugi ordered gently, managing to lure Yami's eyes into his tender gaze.

"Are you really going to throw it all away over one mistake? And yes, it is, it was and it will _always_ be a mistake." Small, delicate hands reached out towards the Pharaoh's, taking his left hand into Yugi's tender grasp.

"Please, Pharaoh, don't do this to yourself. Don't punish yourself or torture yourself any more than you already have. Promise me you'll _never_ go back to that place." A war between two sides raged within the Pharaoh. One side, his mind, was telling him that his actions are, were and will always be unforgivable; the other side, his heart, was telling him that it is OK for him to make mistakes so he could learn from them.

"I can't promise you that." Yami admitted, gently removing his hand from Yugi's grip. "Not until I at least have full closure on some things." Yugi nodded as his other self prepared to ask him his first question. "Were you not at least a _bit_ angry with me over what I did, when I saw you again, before we had to face each other in a duel?"

Yugi gave a gentle sigh before parting his lips. "You want to know something, Pharaoh? I _was_ angry with you, not because of what you did in that one duel, but because of what you said and how you said it when we saw each other again." This was definitely _not_ the kind of response Yami was expecting to hear.

"You said that you should be locked away if you were capable of such horrific behaviour, that _you_ should be locked away instead of _me_." Yugi was angry because of _that_? How could this be? At least _one_ person was angry with him for what he did. That person said what _should_ have been said: that _Yami_ , instead of _Yugi_ , should have been locked away.

"I wasn't angry at what you did, I was hurt. I was upset. You played that card so you could win the duel, only to end up losing instead." So Yugi was _pretending_ to be angry all this time? Impossible!

"You lost the trust of your monsters that day, but you worked so hard to get it back." Yugi continued, smiling a little. "Your main focus was bringing me back, and you DID bring me back, Pharaoh."

"Why did you rescue me from the Seal?" asked the Pharaoh, wanting to know the real reason behind the act.

"Because you're my friend, Yami." Yugi responded, gaining a puzzled look from his other self. "You may not think it, knowing what you did, but you ARE my friend. Friends will often say or do things they will regret in the near future."

Yugi's slight smile dissipated on a recent thought that just came up. "Right now, I regret the horrible things I said to you in that duel, putting you through all this pain of having to fight me while I was laying into you." Yugi cast his gaze away from the Pharaoh shortly before looking into his eyes again.

"I also saved you because… I didn't want your soul to be fed to the Great Beast. _That_ would have caused the destruction of our world and the Duel Monsters' world. And besides, even if that wasn't going to happen right away, I wouldn't know what I'd do. It probably would have taken me _even_ _longer_ to stop Dartz and bring you back."

Yami nodded understandingly at the thought of Yugi, of all people, struggling to get back on his feet to save him from Dartz and the Great Beast. "I have one more question, Yugi." Yugi gave his other self a permitting nod to ask whatever final question he had on his mind.

Yami slowly opened his mouth to speak. "Say the Great Beast wasn't here, there is no Great Beast involved. If I had lost the duel with the Seal in play, the Seal I willingly activated in order to win, would you still have saved me or would you have left me to my fate?"

Yugi's mouth opened in awe as his eyes did the same. He couldn't believe Yami would ask that of him, especially since the Seal takes people's souls almost unconditionally. Taking a deep breath to soothe himself, he spoke again.

"I'd like to answer that with a question, Yami. Do you think I would ever forgive myself if I chose to do the latter?" Yami took three seconds to come to a conclusion.

"What, letting my soul be taken?" he asked, gaining a nod from Yugi. "No, of course not. You'd be tearing yourself apart over this."

"Just like you were… when my soul was taken away." Yugi countered. "It's not like you chose to sacrifice me to save yourself, Yami, I chose to give myself up. I would do it for anyone. And if given the chance, I'd do it all over again."

Yugi gently took a corner of his bottom lip into his mouth before speaking again. "Yami, don't be mad, but… I think I could have tried harder to stop you from playing that evil card." Yami's brow jolted downward a little.

"Why do you say that, Yugi?" he asked.

"Well," Yugi began, "to be frank, there was a part of me that knew there was nothing at stake during your duel with Raphael. The reason it didn't come up was because I was just so caught up in the events." Yugi sighed to himself with a hint of guilt in the mix. "I was in such an emotional state that I felt that… I couldn't do any more than I did to try to stop you. Maybe I was expecting you to know that losing the duel without the Seal in play would have changed nothing."

A chuckle escaped the young boy's lips. "Listen to me, rambling on about common sense."

"No, Yugi." Yami followed. "You were right. I should have known better; what I did back there was the most selfish thing I've ever done. I threw away my belief in the Heart of the Cards for the power of the Orichalcos. No one was in any real danger until I made that foolish decision."

Yugi's innocent face conjured a little frown. "Yami, I told you before. That card was affecting your mind."

"No," the Pharaoh replied, "it wasn't the card, nor was it that stone wrapped around my neck. Using that card was MY decision and MY decision alone. No words can truly express how deeply I regret what I had done. Nothing I can say or do will ever change or excuse my actions."

The innocent child reached out and took the former King's hand into his own again. "Pharaoh… it's OK. I have already forgiven you and I still do. Can you at least do the same for yourself?" The Pharaoh stared into the eyes that shone with hope, love and understanding. "Please, Pharaoh?" he begged, his voice as gentle as a cool breeze.

There was no hope for the Pharaoh to resist the kind of face Yugi was making. The kind of face that was blessed with the gift of adorability. "Alright, Yugi. I will put it behind me." Yami answered, smiling to himself. "You don't have to try to look as cute as possible in order to persuade me."

"S-shut up!" the boy yelped as his face gave off a hint of red. The Pharaoh couldn't help but laugh at the sight. "See? Right there. _That's_ the Pharaoh we know." Yugi stated, with a cute giggle to follow.

Suddenly, another thought came to Yami. "Yugi?"

"Yes, Pharaoh?" came a reply.

"What do you see when you look in the mirror?" Yugi blinked at the Pharaoh in disbelief.

"My reflection."

"No, not that." Yami countered.

Yugi pondered on the question before realising what the Pharaoh meant. "Oh, you meant… right. Well, uh… umm… gosh, I… really don't know. Maybe… a guy wearing the Puzzle around his neck?"

Yami shook his head with a silent giggle. "Any strong qualities you might have, Yugi?" he asked, hoping to get more out of him.

"Uhh… well… it's… uhh… kind of hard to name a few." Yugi thought really hard on that question. "I know I'm a nice guy, but that doesn't really prove anything, right?"

"Well, Yugi…" Yami began. "You have the gift of kindness, love, friendship and compassion. You would do everything in your power to keep your friends out of danger, even if they refuse to let you deal with such dangerous tasks on your own." Yugi nodded in agreement. "You are pure, sweet, innocent and selfless. It's those kinds of traits that helped even me out, helped soften me up enough to help me restrain myself."

Yugi's face flushed scarlet all over. "I would not have been what I am today if not for you, Yugi." It was now Yugi's turn to speak.

"And you're strong, brave and heroic. Not to mention wise. Your traits have given me the strength and courage I need to face whatever challenge I come across. I still would have been as naïve, scared and timid as I used to be if not for you." Yugi gave off a cute, innocent smile to his darker half.

A question came to mind shortly afterwards. "But Yami, why did you ask me that?"

"In my dream," Yami began, "you were taken over by the Seal of Orichalcos outside the duel. You were in excruciating pain before it happened, and I was helpless to stop the pain." Yugi's eyes widened with shock and disbelief. "I vowed never to leave your side. When the Orichalcos took you over, you said some horrible things about yourself." Yami clenched his eyes shut as his heart jumped.

"I did? What did I say?" The former King stared into the young eyes filled with simple curiosity.

"Well… you called yourself a lazy leech, a worthless whelp, a poor excuse for a hero and a student, a naïve fool and a weakling." Yami could barely keep his 'tough guy' persona up as he went down the list. He kept his eyes on the ground, clenched fists shaking. "I couldn't believe what I was hearing from you, in my dream. You even blamed yourself for losing Exodia and putting yourself, Joey and Tristan in grave danger."

He then forced himself to look the innocent boy in the eyes again, fists no longer shaking or clenched. "You even said you weren't strong enough to stand up to Kaiba when he mocked you for throwing away the duel to save his life."

"Tea gave him what for for that." Yugi chuckled. "I was really scared of what I almost did to him."

"It makes me wonder what Kaiba would have done if you and he were in each other's shoes. Not that I would wish that on you or anything like that." Yugi giggled lightly from hearing Yami's slightly worried tone.

"Yeah, I know. And Yami? I'm sorry I hit you." Yami shook his head slightly, unconcerned about the slap in the face.

"It's alright, Yugi. I have suffered worse than this, believe me." Yami shot a genuine smile at him.

Suddenly, Yugi felt that he would burst at any moment. "Pharaoh?"

"Yes?" The unexpected happened. "Huh?"

The Pharaoh found himself ensnared by Yugi's strong but gentle embrace. "You're one of the best friends I've ever had, and I love you."

Yami was caught by surprise at the warm gesture. Closing his eyes with a relaxed smile on his face, he returned the favour with his own arms wrapped his friend's back. "I feel the same way about you, Yugi."

Neither one of them would let go, for their brotherly embrace was a gift to one another. A gift that was sent from the heavens.


End file.
